A new look at an old book: The Bible, Annunaki, and gods, oh my!

I'm currently attempting to read my way through the entirety of that ancient tome known as the Bible (currently in the book Numbers) just for the sake of it. I'm actually finding it quite entertaining, especially after having read The 12th Planet by Zecharia Sitchin, which is causing me to look at it (the Bible) from a slightly different angle. There are also some oddities in the Old Testament, particularly in Genesis and Exodus that lead me to believe God was/is a being with a physical form and no, I don't mean Jesus.

From the start you get the idea that God was literally here on Earth appearing in person to people (which John claims is impossible in the New Testament by the way). You can hear him walking through the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve saw him. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and a few others I haven't mentioned saw him. He also bizarrely appears in a "meeting tent" to Moses in a couple books of the Bible. Whilst God is in the tent, there is a cloud of smoke and fire around it as well.

Now, why if God is omnipotent/omnipresent, does he need to appear in a meeting tent? Also why the smoke and fire around the tent? It would seem to me that while he should be able to just appear/speak to whoever he wants to without need of a tent to hide his presence; simply making himself visible and heard only to the ones he wants his presence known to without having to put on a big show.

There also seems to be many references to the existence of multiple gods in the Old Testament (here's a really interesting post on someones blog, I found about this), ones where God (well technically the Lord as the Christian versions of the OT calls him. I really want to get a copy of the OT in english, but with the Hebrew words for God/gods remaining in their orignal state so I can better understand the possible contexts) recognizes the apparent esistence of these other gods. It's even mentioned that he passes judement on them.

For some reason I can't help, but wonder if these "other gods" are possibly related to the Annunaki/Nefilim of Sumerian myth, even possibly being the aliens Zecharia Sitchin proposes them to be. With them basically pretending to be gods, perhaps the real God (the Annunaki did believe in a creator from what I understand) decided to come into the picture and correct a mess the Annunaki started.

I think there is a bigger picture in all of this that is slowly coming together the more I read. Perhaps I ought to dig more into some of the other religions that were around at the same time Judaism was the big shot monotheistic one. In particular I want to get a hold of some books on Sumerian/Babylonian myth that are not skewed in Zecharia Sitchin's (although I do want some more books of his. I feel some of his research is more credible then many give him credit for) ideas, and also some on Zoroastrianism, which shared many of the same concepts with Judaism.

Oddly, I don't fully know why I'm so interested in this, but I have an urge, almost a need to keep digging into it. Things seem to get more strange the farther I dig to, so I think that puts it right up my alley. Who knows, perhaps I wind up so close to the truth that I go mad in all to Lovecraftian manner, which would be kind of cool. Although I'd feel sorry for my family, since I'm crazy enough as it is.